I've wondered this as well... Seems like an added benefit to a swing analysis & startup to lessons.

When it comes to range balls at the local courses, I like to think of the quote from The Christmas Story when the kid is talking about the tires on his Dad's car, "They are round & were once made of rubber..."

If I don't know the markers on the range I will use a laser to check them so I know what I am aiming at. Because they move the tees around, back and forth, any permanent yardage markers are pretty much worthless, you are having to step off distance to where you are actually hitting from or just use a range finder.

i use my rangefinder at the range to the best i can but the true test is just playing rounds and using my rangefinder and seeing where my balls end up and using that as SOLID distances.

I just use on course knowledge. It's all trial and error and if you play enough you're going to know how far you hit your clubs consistently.

one thing I noticed in Orlando earlier in the year is the lack of nice in cart GPS units. The courses up here have really nice units that give all the necessary information for on the course. At the range I go to they have a V2 that you can use and laser any target so you know "roughly" how far you hit each club with the range balls.

GPS would be your best bet on the range, or getting out there and playing a 4 ball scramble by yourself. Hit 4 and find your average distance. But on the range you are hitting 100 different kinds of balls, not what you normally play on the course.

How accurate are launch monitors with range balls? Does the ball have any effect on the numbers that an LM is going to report?

This is exacly why I need a rangefinder so much. AFAIC, its the only way to KNOW your real yardages from club to club.

Flightscope, trackman and other similar units are pretty much out of reach for most of us. However, I was listening to the Sirius/XM PGA John Maginnes program on the way home from work Monday, and he was interviewing the inventor of the ES12. It is a doppler device that gives you audible distances of your shots. I went to the web site, http://www.ernestsports.com/ , and it seems good.

The best part is that it sells for $249 with a special discount if you put Sirius/XM in the product code section that makes the price $199 until this Friday.

JB, this might be something that THP might be interested in testing.

Thats an interesting product. Thanks for sharing!

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